dj2017

On 4/13/2022 at 5:40 AM, VMax1700 said:

Is it possible? - yes.

But Dunmore East is a small town and not many local based taxis.  During a cruise ship visit some taxis based in Waterford etc will migrate towards Dunmore and be available, but there will still be a very finite number.

Likewise there is a bus service https://suirway.com/timetables/dunmore-east/january-june-2022/

but it is a local service and would be swamped with cruisers. 

If the ship offers a transfer to Waterford city it may be your best best.  Waterford is small and very walkable.

Suirway has ceased trading since October 31st 2022

EDIT: Sorry I missed when you said Glorious China.

Which tour? Glorious China & Yangtzee 15d, I see is offered those dates.

If you know which tour, then you might be able to go to the "prices" for more detailed description. Different Sinorama websites seem to have different info and details. The link below has a virtual tour of some rooms.

http://www2.sinorama.ca/sinorama/index.php?id=asiatour_cruise_map

Three of us (me, hubby, sis-in-law) are taking a Sinorama trip to China in May. We will be sharing a room. The Sinorama folks said that while on the boat the third person (sis in law) would need to sleep on a mattress on the floor. My question is, how big are the beds if we got a room with two beds? Are they US twin bed size or double bed size? If double, I think hubby and I could have one and sis have the other.

Also...any tips on which side of the boat is best for viewing things on the river?

Thanks much!!

I don't know the answer but you probably need to provide more details. We are going in May too, but Sinorama used more than one boat. The Gold 8, Gold 3, and and now see Sinorama Diamond listed.

1. Which tour

2. What date

Will help possibly get the answer. PS We asked about booking triple and they said it wasn't even possible so we added a 2nd room and are bringing daughter's friend as the fourth, rather than paying single supplement.

Hope they didn't make you pay the single supplement AND not give you a single room with a bed...singles were listed as Category D and E and were available on the Gold 8 when we booked last February, but I noticed a while back they didn't list them anymore...but still have the description on the website "* Please note that for customers of double occupancy, by selecting Cabin D or Cabin E, you will be automatically granted two cabins in the same category on the cruise."

You might try Google searching the Athens airport.

I don't think the wifi signal from the airport would reach the 'cruise terminal'

LOL, maybe it was the context,

"March 31st, 2012, 07:16 PM

euro cruiser euro cruiser is online now

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Taxis from the airport into central Rome have a fixed fare of 40 Euro. More information on the city's web site here: http://www.comune.roma.it/wps/portal...se_aero_eng.wp

Many things can impact how long it takes to clear passport control and get your bags, but in general I'd say it hasn't taken more than an hour (I travel through FCO once or twice a year).

Some of the possible impacts:

if you are on Alitalia there's a good chance you won't have a gate; frequently they disembark their planes on the tarmac and you take a bus to the terminal building. This extra step can add up to 30 minutes to your time.

multiple planes arriving at the same time - generally passport control reacts pretty quickly to this problem, but every now and then you can get stuck on line for 15 minutes or so

slow luggage - this is probably the most common problem. The last time I arrived at FCO (last month) our bags were already up by the time I got there (made a quick bathroom stop on the way, other than that we sped right through), but I have waited up to 30 minutes in the past

As to which bus to book, given that they will let you on a later bus if you miss the one you booked, I'd go ahead and book the earlier one and hope for the best.

Last edited by euro cruiser; March 31st, 2012 at 07:18 PM."

Thanx Euro. We were only considering pre-booking to ensure a seat because we've read that there can be crowds (we arrive end of September..hopefully slower season?) but then after reading reviews about terravision and tam it seems the service and schedule can be less than ideal.

If we had prebooked and something went wrong, worse case we'd only be out 8euro and could take the direct train for example.

In 2012 you recommended pre-booking...what changed your mind?

FCO to Rome Termini transfer

I was going to book Terravision bus instead of the express train, but it seems alot of people have difficulties with late,full buses. Anyone use Terravision, or TAM recently and how was the experience?

Thanx for that info. Wasn't aware.

Guess if I can edit it, I will just change it to feedback on whether this is a feasible agenda for just the two of us on this thread?

We were going to do the cruise ship excursion to Olympia/Mercouri Winery but no option to get to the Magna Greco farm so considering doing a taxi. Koningsdam in port 8am-4pm, and currently should be the only cruise ship in port.

Thinking of doing a taxi, shared or just us, if we can hit the stops above. Admission to Olympia is 12e pp incl the museum, there is a little tourist train 30min and 6e pp to get to Mercouri (adm w tour 5epp), if we can't work out a taxi to do all for the day but also want to get back with plenty of time to spend and hour or so at the Katakolon shops (return from taxi tour ~2pm?).

Have read on Katakolon.org that there is no need to book taxis in advance and they just add commission and resell you to a local driver. With one ship in port it won't be swamped.

Anyone else out there interested in possibly sharing a taxi with these three stops (~2-3hr at olympia, ~30min-1hr just to shop at Magna Greco Farm, ~1hr at Mercouri winery)?

Sept 26

Get Rick Steves new updated Mediterranean Cruise Port book. We used it everywhere. And he just updated this year. Oia was fabulous:)

 

Safe Journey!

His website says available September 2016, so I'm assuming this 4th(?) edition isn't out yet?

06-Oct Santorini 8656 people in port, Windstar 8-9 CostaDeliziosa 730-230 CelebReflect 7-6 Koningsdam 8-6

We've booked an excursion the HAL for this port because of the reported issues but even at the end I think we are stuck having to do the cable car (most expensive tour in all our port stops). Our tour goes is 6.5hr, leaves at 815am - Essence of Santorini - Tender to Athinios, 25min drive to Profitis llias Mountain, Oia w free time, winery, Panagia Episkopi Church, Kamari (black sand beach) > lunch, Pyrgos, back to Fira then free time and make way back.

My biggest concern is I would like to have some free time (looks like we'd only have an hour or so if tour ends 245pm and ship leaves 6pm) before returning to the ship, so maybe I am wrong wasting time booking the excursion hoping that then they can't leave without us since we were on their excursion.

Am I correct that the only option for getting back to the ship (FROM Fira, if tour ends in Fira) is the cable car or a 30+ minute walk on a donkey path? (I'd consider the donkey path at my leisure, say 1hr down? to ensure not wasting time in line for hours for the cable car)

I have mobilitiy issues (cane).

I made note that on our day there appears to be two ships (CelebRef and us on Koningsdam) that would be all trying to get back down around the same time and Celeb arrived in port an hour before us, but leaves at the same time.

lol, ...5 years ago.

I was reading the thread with interest and hadn't noticed the op was 5 years ago, but found the info very useful and relevant for our Fall 2016 Greece & Turkey HAL cruise (minus Istanbul dt port dropped, Kusadasi ..we'll see)

One thing with a state of emergency it could end up being more stable for tourism due to potential restrictions on demonstrations, strikes etc. Look to Thailand to see how tourism has resumed and grown after the military had a successful coup. Hoping we DO get to do Kusadasi.

While Holland America has now cancelled Istanbul for the remainder of 2016, Kusadasi remains on our itinerary for October (per their email yesterday announcing the 2 day stop in Istanbul change, ... substituting Mykonos and Santorini and now overnight in Athens)

Cruise ships will change ports if their insurer's raise premiums or deny coverage so I will wait to see if HA maintains Istanbul, Kusadasi.

If they can't sell the destination then they will be inclined to change as well.

I see an ad today from Celebrity indicating one of their ships will be in the Carribean all year now instead of going to Europe (not just Turkey) so European sales must be being impacted by lower demand.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that many people with disabilities are more isolated from society... so the idea I think comes from(in Ontario offering 50% discount admission to campgrounds/free fishing permits/sometimes free parking) is that it helps to allow them to enjoy the things that able bodied can do without such limitations, integrating them as part of a compassionate caring society.

Secondly, from an economic standpoint there are usually higher costs that they incur, just to travel, compared to able bodied.

Thx. I've booked the Emperor suite for us, and deluxe for kids, at a much higher rate because the trip is for a special occasion. Photos look impressive. I did read your blog and it was most informative.

I think the specs listed for the Emperor suite are wrong tho, the room may be 135 sq m, but I don't think our balcony is 185 sq m...prob meant 18 sq m. Another site lists it as having 2 qn beds so I'm not sure why we couldn't book triple occ without having to pay a single supplement. Oh well, just going to bring a friend for the kid since the single supplement is ~1000.00 with the Phuket add on.

Off to Saint Lucia tomorrow while we wait till 2017 for China/Thailand.

Hi RO,

I am planning on reading your blog. Booked 15 day China/Thailand w 7 d ext in phuket with sinorama. Wife always wanted to go on a cruise, but gets motion sick so have never done an ocean one. Figured the river one would be like biking w training wheels. lol..

One thing I can't really get an answer to, is Sinorama charges 150pp for tips,15ppforporter. I read somewhere that there is 50usdpp ship tip that must be paid in cash on arrival.

Since you were on the gold 8 recently hopefully you can enlighten us. (combined 25 wedding aniv/dghtrgraduation trip).

Thank you in advance and looking forward to reading your blog...so much info out there, so little time.

Before we went on this trip in November, I have tried searching for information about the Sinorama Gold 8 sailings on Yangtze River, China. There were not that much on cruisecritic. Now that we have completed our tour and the 5-day cruise, I have posted a trip report on my blog for anyone who may be interested here where we boarded the boat in Chongqing. Gold 8 is a great ship and we enjoyed the five days on board even though the weather was not the best.